Carr Agrees to Testify Before Senate Panel on His Apparent Threats to Kimmel Show

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2025 — Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has agreed to testify before a Senate panel following weeks of bipartisan criticism over his threats against ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, according to published reports.

Carr, a Republican appointee of President Trump, issued a vocal warning to ABC and its parent The Walt Disney Company on Sept. 17, saying the network could “do this the easy way or the hard way,” – in other words – rein in Kimmel’s commentary or face additional scrutiny from the FCC. Later that day, two of ABC’s largest affiliates, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Inc., announced they would preempt the show. Disney then moved to suspend Kimmel that night but brought him back after a four-show suspension.

Carr spoke out during an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson after Kimmel on his Sept. 15 broadcast insinuated – some said lied – that Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA Trump supporter when evidence disclosed by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, R, prior to Kimmel’s comments pointed in the opposite direction.